Blue Moon 105: Free at Last
by EldritchSandwich
Summary: The fifth episode of my Firefly series. A simple layover on a mining colony gets complicated for Dex. The mechanic must struggle to come to grips with his past, and his future, as old faces and old feelings come back to the fore...


"Ahh…ah…CHOOO!"

Daphne sniffed and reeled her head back into place, hair sticking in strands to her face. "All right…has that little monster been in here?" The Companion half-stepped, half-stumbled from the shuttle doorway to the catwalk, eyes whipping around the platforms. Leo cleared the last flight of stairs and winced as another sneeze wracked Daphne's body.

"Here, this one's a nasal spray. You'll have to take it twice daily, but it should help with the irritation."

"That's what you said about the last three!"

He shrugged. "I'm sorry, I thought dander allergies were more or less extinct on the Core. I'm not really set up to deal with this." Leo wrinkled his nose as she sneezed again. "You should think about trying to keep it out of your shuttle."

The Companion grimaced and snatched the dainty bottle from the doctor's hand. "Brilliant."

Mona had finally gotten her hands on the energetic kitten and was cradling it in her arms. "I'm so sorry, Miss Penn, I wish I'd known you were allergic before…" She shrugged. "Jubil's sorry too, aren't you Jubil?" The ball of fur between her arms purred. Daphne stared daggers at it. "I'll try to teach her to stay out of your shuttle," the pilot volunteered helpfully.

Daphne let out another sneeze, and on the other side of the catwalk Rachel's smile widened. Saul, leaning against the bulkhead next to her, cast a sideways glance at his captain and raised an eyebrow. "You let that cat into the Longbow?"

"Yeah."

The cook shook his head. "You're really enjoying this, aren't you?"

The captain grinned. "Yeah."

Dex's eyes fluttered open as the clink of footsteps down the aft corridor grew louder. Mariah stopped on the engine room's threshold. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

The mechanic shook his head and tried to extricate himself from the lotus position as quickly and as gracefully as possible. "No, it's fine. I was just meditatin'."

Mariah smiled slightly. "I didn't think anyone but priests still did that."

Dex shrugged. "I like it. Makes me feel all peaceful-like."

"I guess that's precious enough when you've got a new pet running around and a registered Companion blowing her nose day and night." The mechanic laughed and narrowed his eyes.

"You're Buddhist too, right?"

The debutante shrugged. "My family is, but I don't practice."

"Well, if you got time, why don't you come on in and I'll show you how to do it?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Dex blushed. He could barely manage to cough out, "Meditate. How…how to meditate."

She smiled awkwardly and took a tentative step into the cramped engine room. "Right. No, I didn't think…all right." The mechanic settled back into the lotus stance and Mariah began to lower herself toward the floor. "Do I have to…?"

Dex looked down at his crossed legs. "No, no, just however you feel comfortable." She nodded and sat, legs crossed under one another. "Now you just need to stop thinking."

Mariah grinned. "I don't think I can do that."

"Well, that's why I do it in here. Just listen to the engine. Let the sound fill you until all that defines your conscious self is subsumed by…" Dex's eyes cracked open as Mariah started giggling. "What?"

She cleared her throat. "No, nothing. It's just…you sound like a guru, but you've got that Beaumonde accent…"

Dex grinned. "Hey, you wanna reach the pinnacle o' spiritual existence or what?" Now she was laughing out loud. "Hey come on, this is serious. Don't make me…start reciting thousand year old riddles with no answer. I mean it, I'll riddle if I have to…" As they laughed, the two leaned closer. Soon, Dex's hand was resting on Mariah's, and their laughter died as their eyes met.

Mariah cleared her throat. "So…"

"Yeah, I uh…"

Dex was almost grateful when the click of the intercom broke the silence.

"Dex, can you come up to the bridge? We're about to hit the mining colony." The mechanic lifted himself clumsily to his feet and tapped the comm button.

"On my way."

Mariah lifted herself from the floor and smoothed out the edges of her skirt, nodding gratefully as Dex stepped aside to let her enter the corridor. She fell into step with the mechanic as they cleared the stairs to the bridge where the captain was standing over Mona, staring at the approaching docking struts. "So this is an asteroid, or…"

The pilot smiled before turning back toward the outpost. "Dead meteor, I think. Hit a couple of the smaller rocks in the belt and just lost momentum. They build the superstructure inside so you can get at the core material easier."

Dex shook his head. "Girl can give you a professional critique on a space-mine but can't remember not to leave her shoes lyin' around…"

Mona swiveled her head around sharply. "Hey, sittin' right here, controllin' whether we live or die? Show a little respect, okay?" Dex held up his hands in playful surrender as the teenager turned back to the controls. "Besides, I'll pick 'em up tomorrow."

"Speakin' of which, I'd like to be out of here first thing. We're just here to get that solid fuel injector took care of, right?"

Dex nodded to the captain. "'Less I find somethin' else while I'm fixin' that."

"Well, then, best see you don't. Every day we spend on this nowhere rock's one we ain't gettin' a job." Rachel turned and passed between Dex and Mariah, down onto the main corridor. "'Sides, the landing fees here are steep enough as it is. If this weren't the only rock in range…"

"Say no more, Rach. We'll be out of here in two shakes."

"Make it one and a half, right?"

All three were standing in front of the cargo bay doors now, Mariah and Dex framing the captain. "We got a hard seal, Miss Wu, and the green light from docking control. Go ahead and open 'er up."

Rachel nodded to Dex, who jabbed the button to open the doors. When the ramp landed on the rocky surface of the mine interior, a round, dark, emotionless face greeted them. "Welcome to Corone Remote Mining Endeavor Bian Yuan 622. The Corone Mining Consortium extends its hopes that your stay at our facility is a pleasant one." The greeter recited his lines blankly, gaze slowly shifting from Rachel…to Mariah…and finally to the red-haired man standing by the control panel. His eyes went wide at the same time Dex's did.

The prepared speech died on his lips. Dex couldn't move. The greeter shook his head slowly. "Cong lai bu zai zhi nei yi qian nian…

"You miserable son of a bitch!"

…

Dex still couldn't move. And he was trying. As the man he thought he'd left back on Beaumonde charged him, he only had time for one thought—there was no way it could really be him.

As soon as the greeter started running, Rachel's hand snaked instinctively to her holster, but the man's shoulder knocked her off balance as he made a beeline for Dex. Barely able to right herself in time, Rachel could only watch in confusion as the man scooped Dex up off the ground, laughing.

"Carl Dexter, you can huen dahn! I can't believe it's really you!" Dex tried to smile from his position hanging a foot off the floor. "You haven't change a whit, boy!"

Dex gritted his teeth. "Yeah, and you're still strong as an ox…"

As if it had only now occurred to him that his old friend might have trouble breathing, Woof loosened his grip and Dex slid to the floor. As soon as his feet touched the plating, the redhead's hands clamped onto the man's massive arms. "Never thought I'd see you again, boy, what you been doin' with yerself?"

Dex gestured to Artemis' cargo bay with a certain sense of pride. "Own half this pretty little ship right here. I'm a real live mechanic now."

"Ai ya, din't I always tell ya them fancy books was gonna come in handy?" Woof tightened his grip again, and Dex pushed away.

"Hey, easy, easy, I still ain't breathin' right from the last one."

"Sorry, I'm just…been a damn long time."

"Yeah, last time I heard from you was…"

"…right after you left when me and Rooster sent you that wave…"

"…with the box turtle!" When they said the last line in tandem, both men broke into laughter. "Oh, it's great to see you, look better'n ever…"

"So," Rachel turned toward Mariah in the loudest voice she could manage, "I think it's conceivable that Dex and this here fellow might have met before now, what do you think, Mariah?"

"Actually, I think I'm rather inclined to agree with you, Captain."

Dex blushed and shook his head. "Aw, I'm sorry. Woof, this's Rachel Wu, cap'n of this here ship, and that's Mariah Boleyn. Rach, Mariah, this is—"

"Addison Fenway Collins the Fourth, but y'all can just call me Woof."

Rachel extended her hand, then immediately regretted it as her arm pumped up and down in the greeter's grip. "Mighty pleasure…Woof."

Mariah watched Rachel rubbing her arm and offered her own hand only briefly. "So…how do you two know each other?"

"We worked together," Dex muttered absent-mindedly before turning back to his friend, "but that was years back. How'd you even get off Beaumonde? Did the fam…" Dex's face darkened. "Did somethin' happen?"

Woof squinted. "You didn't hear?"

"Hear what?"

"'Liance stepped in. Made a example, let everybody go." His white grin reappeared. "Twenty credits and a brand new suit for evry single soul, you imagine that sight? 'S all over the news waves for a spell, too."

Mariah's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, 'let everybody go'?"

The color drained from Dex's face, and Woof's grin faded. "Aw, I thought…"

Dex's lips pressed into a line. "Why don't we wander elsewhere?"

Mariah tried to follow as the two men passed from the cargo ramp into the steel-ribbed mining complex, but Rachel's arm held her back. "Guessin' you aren't quite readin' the point o' their exit, are you?"

"Wait a minute, I think I deserve—"

"An awful lot, seems t' me." Rachel dropped her hand and turned to the comm button. "Saul, you got walkin' to do, now's the time."

"Roger that, sir. Be right down."

Rachel nodded and cast one glance back at the debutante. "Man wants to tell you, he'll tell you. Dong ma?" As the captain's footsteps echoed back into the ship, Mariah watched Dex and 'Woof' fade into the half-light of the mine. Then, shaking her head in confusion, she turned back to the ship.

The corridor was mostly empty, only a few miners and technicians shuffling back and forth as Dex and Woof walked. Looking down into the pain on his friend's face, Woof sighed. "I'm real sorry, man, I don't know what I was…I thought you woulda told…"

"Rach knows. And our cook too. Guess it's my fault for never tellin' t'others."

Woof nodded, walking for a moment in silence. "So how long you been with this Rachel?"

Dex let out a long breath. "Must be…just about a year, now, since we bought the ship."

Woof shook his head, smiling. "Carmen's gonna be all manner o' disappointed you went and got yourself attached."

Dex coughed. "What, Rach and I ain't like that, ce xin, we're just frien…" He stopped walking. "Carmen?" Woof smiled. "Carmen's here?"

"Works in the saloon. Been lookin' for the right time t' bring it up. I'm gonna be her hero, too, bringin' you in."

"So? How's she doin'?"

"Not bad, not bad. Some huen dahn tried to look up her skirt some weeks back. Broke a whiskey bottle over his head."

Dex shook his head. "Th' more things change…"

…

Mariah's eyes flitted up as a shadow fell across the page, and the momentary flare of hope left her. The young doctor didn't seem to notice. "Sorry, am I disturbing you?"

"No. What is it, doctor?"

"Leo, please." She nodded listlessly. He cleared his throat. "So…what are you reading?" She held up the cover for him to see. "Leaves of Grass. One of my favorites."

"I didn't know you liked Earth-That-Was poetry."

"Well, I didn't like reading it in school…" Mariah smiled slightly, "but it's a good way to pass the time."

"Well, I have nothing better to do, anyway."

"On that subject, I…" The debutante looked up into his eyes, and Leo promptly forgot what he was planning on saying. "Well, that is…the Captain says we're all free to take our ease and…if you wanted to stretch your legs, I was going to take a walk around the inside of this…wonderful…asteroid."

"Meteor."

"Right."

Mariah cast a glance down at the book, then back up at Leo, smiling, in her door frame. "Sure. Why not?"

Dex caught his first glimpse of her through the decorative lattice of empty wine bottles that topped one of the counters bordering the workers' cantina, and his breath caught in his throat. She looked exactly the same. Woof elbowed him in the side, and he realized he was staring. "Well, go on. She been waitin' two years to see you, boy."

The mechanic flashed him a grin and stepped into the saloon. Carmen was facing the bar, and didn't see him when his arm hooked around her waist. "Xi ji…"

In retrospect, it had probably been a mistake to assume that she'd recognize his voice after two years. Dex considered this just before he hit the ground and Carmen's fist completed its arc. Luckily, Carmen thought to look down as she raised her heel into the air, and it stopped before it impacted Dex's nose. "Oh my god…Carl?"

"No, you're right. That was a bad idea, forgot how easy you spook." Dex winced as Carmen offered her hand and helped him teeter to his feet. "Thought Rooster taught you not to hit a man with a closed…" His words died as her lips crushed against his, her arms wrapping his head. When she finally pulled away, Dex let out a slow breath and Carmen smiled.

"Hi."

"So what is it that makes you so enthusiastic to be out here on the border?"

Leo turned his head as they walked. "How do you mean?"

Mariah shrugged. "Well, your uncle came out here to get away from the tong, Daphne came out here to get away from her House…but you seem so thrilled to have had your life uprooted."

Leo chuckled. "You know…when I was a kid, I always loved frontier stories. Books, vidshows…it always just seemed so adventurous out here, so…wild. This big, black wilderness just waiting for someone to come along and tame it."

"And that would be you…"

"Well of course, I'm a big shiny hero." Mariah chuckled. "So wait, what about you? You never did tell me why you're all the way out here."

"No, I didn't."

Leo arched his eyebrows. "And…"

Mariah glanced up at him and sighed. "My parents decided to run my life, so I decided to run from it."

Leo nodded, but didn't take his eyes off her. "I get the distinct impression there's something you're not telling me."

"Do you?" Mariah smiled and picked up her pace, leaving Leo shaking his head as he hustled to keep up.

Jubil flipped onto her back, and Mona cooed appreciatively as her fingers crawled out to tickled the kitten's belly. "Oh, you are just so darling, mao mei." The cat let out a short meow. "Yes you are. Yeah." Jubil's ears swiveled toward the door into the common room, then the cat rolled back to her feet. Mona looked up. "Oh, hey, Saul. You wanna pet the kitty?"

"No thank you, I'm happy with my current number of fleas."

"Cheng wei he li, Jubil don't have fleas."

"Mighta picked up some o' yours."

Mona shot him a look of mock pain, then turned back to the cat. "What do you think, Jubil, should we put your new litter box in Saul's room? Would you like that?"

"You know I'd be careful bringin' that animal in here, all these pots and pans and spices around…"

"You wouldn't."

"Can't remember the last time we had real meat…"

Mona hugged the cat to her. "Saul, that ain't funny!"

The cook sighed. "Cap'n's got me doin' the rounds. Said I's supposed to ask if you wanna come."

"After you insulted my cat? I don't think so. Not unless you ask me real nice." Mona's smile of smug satisfaction faded as Saul shrugged and walked back into the aft corridor. "No, wait, Saul, I wanna come…wait up…"

"So, how long you been here, I mean…Woof didn't fill me in on the details…"

"It was 'bout six months back. Every once in a while, th' Alliance makes a big show of findin' a slave owner and makin' 'em shut down. Mister Guil got most of his land taken away, too. A couple of us stayed on as tenant farmers, like Rooster, but everyone else left to seek their fortunes. All told, place is about a sixth the size it once was."

Dex shook his head. "Ah, that's too bad. I mean, the Guils really were nice folk."

"Nice folk? Carl, they owned us."

"Ain't never said it was right, and never will, but…things I seen out in the black, last two years…life of a farmhand—"

"—slave hand—"

"—seems like a pretty comfy alternative."

Carmen eyed him, and broke into a smile. "Ever the homebody. You haven't changed one bit, Carl Dexter."

"Yeah, so they keep tellin' me."

"'Cept you're a big fancy starship mechanic now."

Dex grinned. "Yeah, well…Artemis ain't really a starship so much as a jian bao diao ke pin…but the mechanic point's true enough." Dex shook his head. "I love that boat."

"Yeah, I noticed your eyes lightin' up. What's so special about that Firefly?"

"Well…it's like it's the reason I got off Beaumonde in the first place, was just to track down this ship. Made my best friends since…well, since you all, on her. She…she's freedom."

Carmen smiled softly and shook her head. "Nope. Not one bit."

Saul swung the empty bag awkwardly over his shoulder as he loped down the corridor. It was more or less deserted, and by the time he was halfway between the docks and his destination, there was no one else in view. Then there was.

"Excuse me, sir. Might I trouble you for a moment?"

Saul squinted—it was difficult to make out the man's face in the half-light of the mine. "Go." Saul thought he could see the man smile.

"Am I right in assuming that you've come off the Firefly that just docked here?"

Saul didn't like this one bit. The arm with the bag stayed still, but the other began to edge toward his knife. "Well enough."

The cook was fairly certain the man was smiling. "Good." Saul didn't see the gun in the man's hand—he couldn't even register what had was happening before the bullet hit his stomach.

…

"Stop me if I'm wrong, Captain, but Mr. Dexter said we needed to dock here in order to fix something…"

When the nobleman paused, Rachel turned from the cabinets lining the common room's kitchen wall. "Y'ain't wrong yet, you can keep talkin'."

"And as soon as we docked, said mechanic left the ship without warning or explanation."

"Why do I not relish the direction this conversation is heading…"

Sir Anderson forced a smile. "I'm simply trying to work out what part of this cunning strategy I'm missing."

Rachel turned from the wall a second time, a small food bar clutched in her hand and a tight smile on her face. "There's no need to get snippy." She let the square cabinet swing shut with a click, and began to walk toward the forward corridor as she peeled back the silver wrapping on the bar. "'Sides, you got somewhere pressing you need to be, your lordship?"

"I'd just rather get underway, Captain, and I thought you of all people would share that sensibility."

Rachel sighed and turned on her heel. "Dex is a very good friend, which you coulda noticed is a mite rare out here." Sir Anderson was about to respond, but she cut him off with a wave of her hand. "I trust him. Implicitly."

She turned back toward the bridge, leaving the nobleman shaking his head. The garish cuckoo clock that hung on the wall, a gift to Daphne from a grateful client, had advanced over an hour since Dex and his friend had left. The captain exhaled deeply. She trusted him. To a point.

"So what are you doing here? This far out, I mean. I thought you always wanted to go to Greenleaf."

Carmen shrugged. "I did, but…things never work out the way you plan, right? There's no work anywhere, these days; had to take the first offer I got."

Dex chuckled. "Yeah, you're tellin' me."

The mechanic took the ensuing pause to glance up at her again. She looked much the same as she always had, he supposed: except now her honey-colored hair flew freely instead of staying plastered to her forehead with the day's sweat, and the smile that he was used to seeing in her eyes had started to fade.

"Jiao xing…" He blinked, and Carmen grinned. "You still with me, Carl?"

He cleared his throat and tried to smile. "Yeah, just…thinkin' about home." A stray thought entered Dex's mind, and his gaze shifted around the canteen. "Where's Woof got to?"

He abandoned his search when he felt Carmen's hand slide over his on the surface of the table. "Listen, Carl, I…" She met his eyes and a shy smile flashed across her lips. "It's really good to see you again."

Dex swallowed a breath. "It's good to see you again. I mean, I didn't…" He had to break his eyes away from hers. "I mean, I never…"

"I missed you." His gaze pulled itself back up to hers, and she smiled sadly. "I mean, we were so close, and I didn't always…"

Dex shook his head furtively. "Look, why don't we talk to the rest of my crew? We can take you somewhere. We can take you to Greenleaf, you can tear through the underbrush for medicinal plants, or somethin'." Carmen smiled. "I just…I want to see you happy."

Her other hand came to rest in the middle of the table, on top of his. "Havin' you here makes me happier than I have any right to be, Carl Dexter."

Daphne inhaled slowly as the asymmetrical sponge glided up her arm, then exhaled as her hand guided it back down. She had abandoned most of the Guild's customs—antiquated rituals the lot of them—but the Companion bathing ceremony she had always maintained. They taught at the House that it was supposed to be a spiritual as well as a physical cleansing; to slough off anything that might get in the way of a Companion doing her job. Things like lust, jealously, pride. Maybe that was why she felt more at home on the Rim, she thought with a snort of contempt: because she'd been too proud to make herself less human in order to pander to her clients like the Guild wanted. It wasn't her fault that her feelings were stronger than other peoples', and she certainly wasn't going to apologize for the fact that she enjoyed doing her job. Maybe that was why they'd pressured her to leave. They were just envious of her passion. Or scared. She started to force the sponge harder against her skin. The rest of them could all go to hell.

"Oh, oh, dear, forgive me…" Daphne snapped out of her trance and turned her head in time to see Sir Anderson stumble over her divan in an attempt to back out of the shuttle with his eyes closed. "I mean, I never, oh, dear…"

"It's all right! Just please…stop being a gentleman or you're going to break something."

Sir Anderson stopped moving, but his eyes were still squeezed shut. "I'm terribly sorry, I…the door was wide open…"

The Companion nodded mildly. "I don't even worry about it anymore. I prefer it that way." Sir Anderson cleared his throat uncomfortably. She moved the sponge to her shoulder, suddenly conscious of how tightly she had been gripping it before he entered. "You wanted something?"

"Oh, I, uh…I was hoping to talk, but I uh…you're, um…indisposed."

"I can do both at the same time." The nobleman was still standing in her entryway, eyes squeezed shut. Daphne sighed. "Please, sit. And for God's sake please open your eyes, my back's to you anyway."

Sir Anderson settled onto the divan and, slowly, inched his eyes open, letting out a relieved breath. "You're not really the typical Companion, you know."

"You're not really the typical fugitive."

The nobleman let out a stifled laugh. "Fair enough."

"What did you want to speak to me about?"

"Well, I…I wanted your advice, actually. About…our captain."

Daphne smiled halfheartedly. "I wonder if maybe I'm not the best person to ask about Rachel."

"Well, you've been on this ship longer than I have. Anyway, if the truth be known…I can use all the help I can get."

Daphne sighed. "Rachel Wu's a good woman. She just…wants to have control. She doesn't like being second-guessed, or manipulated." She stopped the sponge. They were more alike in that respect than the captain guessed; they both wanted control over their own destinies. Perhaps that was why they didn't get along.

"You seem to know her fairly well after all."

"Maybe I do." Daphne tightened her grip on the sponge. "Now, if you'll excuse me, your lordship, I'd like to get the rest of the cat hair off." Sir Anderson cracked a thin smile and moved toward the shuttle's exit.

"Oh, Sir Chen?" He looked back at the Companion expectantly. "Would you close the door?"

…

Saul regained consciousness with a jolt and an angry snort. The spot on his stomach where the bullet had impacted the mesh hurt like hell. The part of his back that had been slammed against the uneven walkway when he fell was even worse. The cook was on his feet in an instant, knife in hand swinging around frantically to the pockets of shadow that surrounded him, but it was obvious the gunman was long gone.

He bent down to examine his armor through the hole in his tee shirt. The good news was that even at point blank range, the round hadn't penetrated the skin. The bad news was that someone had just shot him. No less, someone who, judging from his timing, was probably on his way to Artemis right now. Saul sheathed his knife, slung the sack he had intended to use for supplies over his shoulder, and broke into a sprint with a annoyed curse.

He was getting too old for this.

"So you don't think he was justified?"

The doctor shook his head. "I'm saying that there's a certain emotional level where any act can be considered justified. But it's not a good basis for a legal system."

Mariah stopped walking and turned to face him. "Are you saying I'm too emotional?"

The edge in her voice made Leo freeze. "Wait…no, I, I mean…" When he finally noticed the expression in her eyes, the doctor's apology caught in his throat. Mariah broke into a grin. "I walked right in to that one."

"Yes, yes you did."

"That's not funny."

"Actually, it's very funny. I spent my formative years learning that a good Core woman wasn't supposed to be as rational or intelligent as a good Core man and now I get to do something about it."

Leo chuckled as the pair resumed walking. "By running circles around helpless medical professionals?"

"Mostly, yes."

"Well, I suppose we all have our purpose in life."

The dilettante smiled warmly. "This was a wonderful idea. Thank you, Leo."

"Always happy to be of service." A flickering sign broadcast against the wall of the corridor caught his eye, and he smiled. "I don't suppose you'd like to get a drink?"

Mariah shrugged, paused for a moment of thought, then followed the doctor into the outpost's spartan cantina. "Why not? Maybe I can stop…" Her words died when they ran into the couple leaving the cantina.

Mariah wasn't certain who the woman on Dex's arm was, but two things were immediately apparent: she was attractive, and she was making him laugh.

That laughter petered out as soon as Dex saw his crew mates standing in front of them. He cleared his throat as Carmen looked nervously between him and the new arrivals. "Uh…hi."

Leo smiled casually. "Dex. Didn't know you were here."

"Yeah. Uh…Carmen, this is Mariah Boleyn and Doctor Leo Chen, they're on the boat. Doc, Mariah, this is Carmen Busey."

Mariah forced a thin smile. "Another old friend from work?" It sounded more like an accusation than a query.

"Uh, yeah, actually." Finally noticing the placement of his hand, he disentangled it from Carmen's and looked down at the deck. "We, uh…I was just goin' to see Rachel about maybe parcelin' Carmen somewhere, so's she can look for work."

At that, Mariah smiled bitterly. Leo cast a glance between his shipmates and cleared his throat.

"Well, Miss Busey…if you are going to fly with us for a while, let me be the first to welcome you." She shook his hand awkwardly, still occasionally glancing sidelong at Mariah's expressionless face. "Ehm. You've probably gotten used to tight spaces, working in a place like this. The quarters on a Firefly shouldn't be that much of an adjustment, eh?"

Carmen smiled. "Aw, after growin' up in the cabins, anything else seems like tian tang, right?" She elbowed Dex, and he winced. The response caught Mariah's attention, as did his subsequent pleading glance at the blonde. Mariah clenched her jaw.

"All right, Dex, what is all this about? Ever since we got here you've been—"

"Look, it's not important right now. Qing gao bie hao qi xin?"

"No." Mariah's hand pressed against the mechanic's chest as he and Carmen tried to move past her. She forced his eyes to meet hers. "Dex, since when can you not tell me something?"

For a moment, Dex looked into her eyes. She didn't understand. What would she think? What would it mean, to someone who had grown up on the Core? Finally, he pushed past, his hand guiding Carmen along behind him. "Look, just…drop it. Please."

As the other pair moved into the corridor back towards Artemis' airlock, Mariah grabbed the doctor's arm. "Come on."

Sir Anderson's foot caught on the last uneven stair down to the cargo bay floor, sending the old noble careening to the ground with a violent crash. When he looked up, the pilot's new pet was directly in front of him. "Mao?"

Mona sped around the doorway from the ship's lounge as soon as she heard the noise. When she saw the spectacle at the bottom of the stairs, her mouth fell open as she rushed forward. "Oh, my god, are you all right?" With one motion, the teenager scooped the orange kitten into her arms.

Sir Anderson groaned. "Priceless."

Rachel hopped the last few steps down in to the cargo bay, cracking a smile when she saw the immaculate black suit lying in a heap at the bottom of the other staircase. "You still together, your lordship?" Sir Anderson lifted an arm into a halfhearted wave. "Just checkin'. Mona, you hold things down for a spell, I'm gonna go try and find at least one of our missing folk."

"Yes, Miss Wu."

"Excuse me, Captain…Wu, is it?" Rachel looked up to the open airlock door to see a man with a close-trimmed gray beard smiling back at her. "I have a different strategy to suggest." With a flick of his wrist, the man leveled a silver-plated pistol at the increasingly uncomfortable captain. "We'd like you to surrender your ship."

…

Rachel's eyes darted around at the three other men who faded out of the dim reaches of the airlock tunnel. "Don't suppose this here's a legal seizure?"

The leader shrugged. "Not particularly. Just a few businessmen trying to make it in this cruel 'verse."

"Ain't worried about security? Don't think the rest o' your coworkers here'd appreciate you bringin' the law down on this rock."

"Security's less a problem when your inside man cuts off the cameras."

Before Rachel had time to ask the question, the fifth man stepped out from behind the edge of the cargo bay. "Huen dahn!" the captain snarled. Woof just grinned.

"Real sorry, Cap'n. Y'all seem like nice folk, but a man's gotta live."

"Wouldn't put that to a vote just now, I were you."

The older man cut off Woof's response. "Where's your friend?"

The big man's grin faded. "Sent him off. No reason he needs to be here."

Rachel spared a glance to Sir Anderson as the noble pulled himself to his feet. She shook off his curious glance and turned back to the lead gunman. "So you gonna somehow escort us all off, scour the ship t' make sure we ain't left no stowaways, and keep anybody from runnin' off an' tellin' colony security all with five men? That about right?" Two of the men in back exchanged a worried glance.

"Don't you listen to her." The leader fixed his gun on the captain. "You just shut up or I'll give ya a new hole to talk through, dong ma?"

"Oh, yeah, that's real bright. Gunshot brings everybody runnin', you gotta fix the problem with our engine and get outta here before they come. How long Dex say those repairs'd take, Sir Chen?"

The nobleman cleared his throat. He wasn't used to being part of the plan. "About a day, I believe."

"About a day. Which one y'all's the genius mechanic gonna pull that off?"

One of the men closer to the airlock started to twitch. Rachel didn't like the look. "Duke, I don't know about this…"

"Gorramit, Ray, she's bluffing."

"Yeah, course I am…"

"…gorramit, shut your mouth…"

"…Duke, let's just forget it. They won't tell nobody…"

"…oh, right, 'cause your good friend's on crew. He's such a good friend why'd you have to…"

"…don't, man, Dex was…"

"…man's right, y'all just step off my boat and we can…"

"…Duke, come on…"

"…shut up, Ray! We're gonna…"

"…don't make me…"

"Woof, what's go—" The man with the twitch spun toward the new voice and fired.

Before the leader could turn his head back from where the blonde and the redhead had entered the docking tunnel, Rachel was on his back. Mona shrieked as the leader fired spasmodically, a bullet stinging against the cargo crate behind her as Sir Anderson dragged her to the ground beneath him.

The rest of the men had their eyes fixed on the tunnel, the redheaded mechanic staring back at them wide-eyed, his mouth moving impotently.

A gasping cough snapped his attention back to Carmen. "Am I…Carl, what…"

He grabbed onto her seeking hand with one of his own, and moved his other down to press against the pulsing hole in her stomach. "No, you're fine, it's okay. You're gonna be fine…"

Mariah skidded to a stop at the mouth of the docking tunnel, her mind grasping frantically for a moment until, with a look around the pandemonium on the cargo ramp, the situation registered. "Leo!"

Carmen looked down at the red seeping out between her friend's fingers, then the water seeping from his eyes, and she grinned. "You never were much of a liar, Carl Dexter."

The doctor, still trying to catch up with Mariah's forceful pace, broke into a run when he heard her shout.

"No, no, Carmen…Carmen, you're gonna be all right. I swear."

The leader stumbled backwards, and Rachel grunted in pain as she impacted the wall of the cargo bay. The man leveled his gun on the stunned woman. Then he couldn't breathe.

Leo skidded to a stop around the edge of the docking tunnel, eyes drawn first to Mariah, then to where she was looking. Leo stepped around Dex, leaning down to pry the mechanic's hand away from the wound. When Dex looked up at him, the doctor shook his head. "It went all the way through the stomach, maybe nicked the spinal cord. I'm sorry, Carmen."

When his former business partner stopped struggling, Woof released the man from his grip and bolted through his paralyzed comrades toward the end of the tunnel.

Carmen's eyelids drooped, and Dex shook his head. "No, don't you listen to him, Carmen. You're too tough to give up now. I know you better'n that."

Carmen smiled, her teeth stained garish red at the edges. "You haven't changed one bit, Carl Dexter." The blonde's smile relaxed, and her eyes flitted shut. Mariah looked away.

Woof slowed as he neared the group hunched around his childhood friend. "Carmen, is she…" Dex's head shot around, his eyes boring in to the larger man. Woof stopped. Woof fell to his knees.

Saul moved across the cargo bay as the ship broke from the meteor, coming to stand next to his silent commander. "Got underway sooner than I expected."

Rachel nodded, subdued. "Well, I 'spect Dex felt motivated to get all this behind us as soon as possible."

The cook sighed. "Sir, I…I'm sorry. I should have been there for you. Guess I'm gettin' sloppy in my old age."

"Saul…number o' times you've saved my life…I'll let you have an off day just this once."

The cook tried to smile.

Dex squeezed his eyes shut, trying to let the rhythmic hum of the engine carry him away. But it was no use. There was too much going through his head to let him center himself. He opened his eyes with an angry snort to find Mariah standing meekly in the door frame. He tried to meet her eyes, but was almost sure of what he'd see. "Hi."

The dilettante cleared her throat. "Mona…thought you might need someone to talk to." Dex still kept his eyes on the floor, and Mariah began to turn away from the door.

"I was born a slave."

She stopped. When she looked back, the mechanic was meeting her eyes.

"My parents belonged to a rancher back on Beaumonde. I bought my freedom not two years ago."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

His gaze faltered. "I…I didn't know what you'd think of me…if you knew the truth."

"Why does it matter what I think?" She leaned down to the seated mechanic's eye level. "Dex, you're a good man. Nothing could ever make me think anything else about you."

He nodded, once again unable to look directly at her. "I'm sorry."

Mariah sighed, pulled back, and watched the mechanic's eyes slide closed again. After a moment's thought, Mariah stepped back in to the engine room.

Dex looked up, and she shook her head. Facing him, the dilettante lowered herself down, crossing her legs, listening to the hum of the engine, and closed her eyes.


End file.
